Arctic cold weather numbs Denver, but warm spell coming

Sunshine returns to Denver on Monday, but not its warmth. Forecasters expect a high in the city of just 20 degrees and an evening wind chill of minus-4 degrees.

Denver has a 30 percent chance of snow Sunday before 11 p.m., but only about a half inch may result, according to the National Weather Service. The temperature before midnight could fall to minus-1 in the city.

The metro region may not warm to above freezing until Tuesday, which is expected to reach a high of 34 degrees. A warming trend is expected to begin Tuesday and reach the high 40s by the end of the week.

After an Arctic cold front this weekend, the metro region has weathered bitter cold.

The temperature at Denver International Airport was minus-10 degrees at 1:17 a.m. Sunday. The temperature was was still minus-2 by 7:30 a.m. and peaked at 11 degrees just before 1 p.m. Sunday, according to weather data.

"This is the time of year when we can get Arctic outbreaks," said Jim Kalina, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boulder.

The temperatures were warmer Sunday in Aspen and Durango, with highs of 12 and 13 degrees, respectively, than in Denver, about 20 degrees colder than normal in western Colorado.

The high, however, reached only 2 degrees in northwest Colorado.

The forecast high for Steamboat Springs on Monday is 1 degree, 5 in Aspen and 17 in Durango.